Investigation Procedure
A. Determining an Infraction Any judge call which lasts longer than 1 minute requires that the Match be given an appropriate time extension, so a judge should take note of the time as they answer a call. Time extensions should only be given for actual time lost during a round. A judge should never “reverse engineer” a penalty, by applying the penalty first and then determining the infraction. A judge must first investigate, then determine the infraction, and only then apply the penalty. Both players should explain what happened, and answer truthfully any questions the judge may have. The judge will examine the situation, and determine if an infraction has occurred. If so, the judge will then explain the infraction. If no infraction has occurred, the judge will quickly explain why. Investigations are conducted in private. Some infractions, depending upon severity, might also be explained in private to the player committing the infraction. Not every situation that occurs is appropriate for public knowledge; so the judge’s decision to address the matter in private should be respected by opponents, spectators, uninvolved judges and tournament officials, etc. The Head Judge’s decision is final. Just like questions about card rulings, players have the right to appeal to the Head Judge when they are involved in a tournament policy issue. The Head Judge’s decision is final. A player may not appeal a floor judge’s ruling until the floor judge has completed issuing the ruling. Failure to do so may result in Unsporting Conduct penalties. B. Applying the Penalty Once an infraction has been identified, the judge will ask the player if they have received any other penalties for this same infraction during the course of the tournament. This helps the judge determine if a penalty might have to be upgraded. Players are expected to answer this question honestly – lying to a tournament official is against tournament policy. If it is a repeat infraction, the judge will notify the Head Judge prior to applying a penalty, as the Head Judge might wish to upgrade it. If this is a first time infraction, the judge will briefly educate the player concerning the infraction and then apply the penalty. The judge will then allow the players to continue play. If the call took longer than a minute, the judge will note the appropriate time extension on the bottom left of the front of the Match Result Slip. The judge will take the Match Result Slip from the table, and fill out the reverse side of the Match Result Slip with the penalty information. The information should be written as follows: full name – Player ID – Infraction – given – description of infraction – full name The judge will then return the slip to the Match. Judges should give written warnings as opposed to verbal warnings. Verbal warnings cannot be tracked, and do not allow the judges to determine if a player is repeating an infraction. Players are also less likely to take a verbal warning seriously, which undermines the point of the penalty. C. Reporting Penalties All penalties issued by a judge must be reported to the Head Judge and the Scorekeeper, usually by filling out the appropriate information on the reverse side of the player’s Match Result Slip. Scorekeepers will enter the details of the penalty in the official Konami Tournament Software so that it may be tracked throughout the course of an event. Konami reserves the right to contact a player who has accumulated an excessive amount of penalties for further investigation. In addition, Konami reserves the right to pursue further actions – such as suspensions from Sanctioned Konami events – based on continued infractions. D. Game State Whether or not a game state can be repaired can mean the difference between a Warning and a Game Loss. If both players can provide clear information and a judge can determine a way to fix or rewind the game state, the game should be repaired as far as possible and play should resume. A Game Loss is not an appropriate penalty for a repairable game state, unless as an upgrade from previous infractions. An irreparable game state should never result in a double Game Loss, except as an upgrade. If both players share fault in a single game state error that merits a Game Loss, determine which player is most at fault, and award that player with the Game Loss. The player less at fault should receive a Warning. An irreparable game state should never result in restarting a Duel or Match. Irreparable Game States Repairable Game States Click here to return to Tournament Penalty Guidelines.